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No. 38. 

PRAYER 



FOR THE OPPRESSED 



A PEEMIUM TRACT, 



BY 



EEV. JAMES A. THOME, 

CLEVELAND, OHIO. 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

BOSTON. 



SLAVERY UNCHRISTIAN. 

There is a deep and growing conviction in the minds 
of the mass of mankind, that slavery violates the great 
laws of our nature ; that it is contrary to the dictates of 
humanity ; that it is essentially unjust, oppressive, and 
cruel ; that it invades the rights of liberty with which the 
Author of our being has endowed all human beings ; and 
that in all the forms in which it has ever existed, it has 
been impossible to guard it from what its friends id advo- 
cates Mould call abuses of the system. It is a violation of 
the first sentiments expressed in our Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and on which our fathers founded the vindica- 
tion of their own conduct in an appeal to arms. It is at 
war with all that a man claims for himself, and for his own 
children ; and it is opposed to all the struggles of mankind, 
in all ages, for freedom. The claims of humanity plead 
against it. The struggles for freedom every where in our 
world condemn it. The instinctive feeling in every man's 
own bosom, in regard to himself, is a condemnation of it. 
The noblest deeds of valor and of patriotism in our own 
land, and in all lands where men have struggled for free- 
dom, are a condemnation of the system. All that is noble 
in man is opposed to it ; all that is base, oppressive, and 
cruel, pleads for it. 

The spirit of the New Testament is against slavery, and 
the principles of the New Testament, if fairly applied, 
would abolish it. In the New Testament no man is com- 
manded to purchase and own a slave ; no man is commended 
as adding any thing to the evidences of his Christian char- 
acter, or as performing the appropriate duty of a Christian, 
for owning one. Nowhere in the New Testament is the 
institution referred to as a good one, or as a desirable one. 
It is commonly — indeed, it is almost universally — con- 
ceded that the proper application of the principles of the 
New Testament would abolish slavery every where, or that 
in the state of things which will exist when the Gospel shall 
be fairly applied to all the relations of life, slavery will not 
be found among those relations. 

[Sec 3d page of cover.] 



PRAYER 



FOE THE OPPRESSED 



A PREMIUM TRACT. 



BY 

REV. JAMES A. THOME, 

CLEVELAND, OHIO. 



AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

BOSTON. 

Momgnpk 



Tit, 



CALL FOR A PRIZE TRACT. 

The subscriber is authorized to say, that a friend, not wishing his name 
should be publicly known, offers $100 to the person who will write the best 
tract on the duty and importance of praying lor the abolition of slavery and 
oppression, especially in our own country, particularly adapted to interest 
new converts before their minds become embarrassed with political and 
party strife. 

The tract is to be entitled, " Prayer for the Oppressed." The offerer nom- 
inates and requests the gentlemen named below to act as committee of 
award, to wit : Rev. Elnathan Davis, Fitchburg, Mass. ; Kev. George Trask, 
Fitchburg, Mass.; John W. Sullivan, Boston, Mass.; Charles B. Wilder, 
Esq., Boston. Mass.; Rev. E. H. Nevin, Chelsea, Mass. 

The tract should not exceed 24 pages of common size when printed, and 
should be sent to the committee of award in season to be examined, and the 
prize one transmitted to the publication committee of the A. T. S., Boston, 
by the 1st of June next. 

NOAH EMERSON, 
For the offerer of the Frize. 

Hollis, N". H., January 21, 1859 



Last winter, a Christian gentleman, by advertisement in the New York 
Independent, offered a premium of $100 for the bet-t tract which might be 
submitted on " Prayer for the Oppressed." The undersigned were nominated 
and requested to act as a committee of award in this case, and have received 
and examined a large number of manuscripts, many of which were of 
marked ability and power; but finding no one of these so fully to answer the 
call of the offerer ot the prize as to allow them to award the whole of it to 
that, they have awarded the same in equal divisions, to the authors of the 
two best manuscripts, viz.: Rev. George W. Bassett, Washington, D. C, 
and Kev. James A. Thome, of Cleveland, Ohio. And they have strong 
confidence that these tracts will soon come before the public, and that God 
will mightily bless them as an instrumentality in inciting the Church uni- 
versal to benevolent action and believing prayer, for the overthrow of 
slavery and oppression. 

ELNATHAN DAVIS, 
EDWIN H. NEVIN, 
GEORGE TRASK, 
JOHN W. SULLIVAN, 
C B. WILDER. 
Boston, August, 1859. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S59, by 

THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



Cico. C. Kand & Avery, Printers, 3 Cornliill, Boston. 



\ 

I 






PHAYER FOE THE OPPRESSED. 



Who are the oppressed ? Those who suffer wrong from 
the more powerful. They are to be found in all conditions 
of society, in the bosom even of the family and the church. 
All relationships which involve authority are liable to be 
abused to the infliction of injustice and outrage. 

Who are the oppressed, distinctively? The enslaved. 
These differ from all other victims of abused power in this 
essential point, that, by the law, they are regarded not as 
men, but things, the property of men. Denied humanity, 
they are denied all human rights, and excluded from all 
human relations. They have under the slave code as ad- 
ministered, no legal protection ; the show of it which the let- 
ter of the law, in some instances, affords, being designed 
rather to guard their value as property than their interests as 
men.* Outcasts in society, they are outlaws in the State. 

Overlooking this vital distinction, many persons hold that 
slavery is one of the legitimate social relations, and therefore 
not in itself a proper subject of censure ; while its grievous 
evils, the result of the abuse of rightful power, may justly 
be deplored. But others, with a closer discrimination, dis- 
cern that the " chattel principle " which characterizes slav- 
ery is inherently wrong, and that it is the chief promoter 
of the spirit of oppression. It is believed that if slavery 
were abolished, oppression would thereby be materially dimin- 

* The following is a decision of the Supreme Court of Kentucky. Ken- 
tucky Reports, p. 644. Judge Sharon - « Slaves, although they are hu- 
man beings, are, by our laws, placed on the same footing with living prop- 
erty of the brute creation. However deeply it may be regretted, or whether 
it be politic or impolitic, a slave by our code is not treated as a P^;, but 
Knejtium,) a thing, as he stood in the civil code oi the Roman Empire- 



4 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

ished throughout society. Holding this view, the people of 
God are earnestly combating the slave system. The moral 
power of the church, "wielding the pulpit and the press, has 
been increasingly arrayed against this stupendous wrong. A 
more perfect combination of the forces of Christendom for 
the overthrow of oppression is devoutly to be wished. But 
this will not avail without the power of God. That power 
must be invoked, — must be secured. The servants of the 
Most High, who would have him honored and his cause pro- 
moted by the extinction of slavery, must cry unto him day 
and night, — must give him no rest, till he come and deliver 
the oppressed. Fully persuaded of this, we wish to urge — 

The duty and importance of 'praying for the abolition 
of slavery and oppression. 

1. The fitness and effectiveness of prayer as a weapon 
against slavery claims attention. 

It would be powerless in such an extreme case if it were 
in itself a feeble instrumentality. But all things are possible 
to prayer. What is the scriptural idea of prayer ? This ; it 
is the offering to God of desires which his own Spirit has 
kindled in the heart, with importunities which the same Spirit 
prompts and sustains ; it is also made with humble reliance 
on the merits of Jesus Christ, and the prevalence of his in- 
tercessions. Prayer, then, is not the work of man alone ; he 
is but a co-worker with God in this, as in every other gracious 
endeavor, — with the Holy Spirit dwelling in his heart and 
moving him to pray, and with Jesus the Mediator who pre- 
sents his supplications at the Father's throne. This is the 
view of prayer which our Lord discloses in John 15 : 7, 16, 
Paul in Rom. 8: 26, 27, and James, also, 5: 16; "The 
effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much." 
It availeth much, not because it is offered by a righteous 
man, but because it is effectually and fervently inwrought by 
the Holy Ghost, who dwelleth only with the righteous. The 
power of Elijah's prayer is referred to in the connection, to 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 5 

illustrate and confirm the statement that all real prayer is 
mighty. Elijah had no more power than other good men may 
have ; he had the infirmities common to the servants of God, 
but the strength of Jehovah was with him ; that strength was 
in his prayer; and so it may be, — must be, — in all prayer. 
The power of prayer, then, is God's own power, exerted 
by the Spirit and the Son through the supplications of the 
righteous, and therefore it availeth much. Nothing can with- 
stand it, because nothing can withstand God. The elements 
of nature yield to its control ; the institutions of men, founded 
in sin, fall before its cry. 

If slavery were beyond the power of prayer, it would be 
not because of its strength, but because it is right in the sight 
of God. And if it be right, the Spirit will not move the 
righteous to pray for its abolition. If God be for it, who can 
be against it ? 

Let us then inquire whether this be a proper subject of 
prayer? — whether a system of bondage which degrades man 
into a beast of burden and of traffic is pleasing or hateful to 
God ? That it exists, and has endured for ages, is no evidence 
that it enjoys his favor. Sin exists, and has prevailed from 
the beginning. Romanism flourishes, and has had the ascend- 
ency in Christendom for fifteen centuries. Idolatry reigns, 
and the kingdom of Satan looks down from its ancient seats 
scornfully on the kingdom of Christ. Among the most 
dreadful exhibitions of God's wrath and vengeance have been 
those in which he has, with a high hand and an outstretched 
arm, delivered the oppressed, and destroyed their oppressors. 
Slavery is the foe of Christianity, the enemy of souls, and 
it must be hateful to the God of love, who would have all 
men come to Christ. It is opposed to the gospel and to every 
evangelical work, to the tract, the Bible, the missionary en- 
terprise. It disregards the spiritual interests of enslaved 
saints, and of souls perishing in their sins under its yoke. It 
1* 



O PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

is a ruling power in this Christian country, to the scandal of 
religion. It rises above other forms of sin, as the chief per- 
verter of the right ways of the Lord. It hinders the spread 
of vital godliness through this land, walling about the domin- 
ions of its chattels and excluding the preacher of the cross. 
The Christianity it tolerates within its borders is not that 
which declares the whole counsel of God ; which cries aloud 
and spares not, and shows the people their sins. The religion 
of America, fraught with salvation for the nations of the Old 
World, has been shorn of much of its power by the encroach- 
ments of Southern slavery. Can any Christian doubt that a 
system so hostile to the gospel is abhorred of God ? And 
now, at this moment, the issue is forced upon us, whether 
slavery shall exclude the gospel, or be excluded by it. In 
this crisis our only help is in God. We must be persuaded 
that he will defend his gospel, and humble the slave power. 

Note this, that slavery is not one of those organic vices 
of society which are to be left to the reformatory influence 
of Christianity operating silently upon them, but is rather an 
opposing force to be directly and resolutely met, in the name 
of the Lord. In the advance of civilization, ignorance is 
gradually dissipated, but savage violence is to be encountered 
at once and subdued. In the school, the family, the nation, 
the church, certain evils admit only of indirect treatment, but 
others call for decisive, positive measures. Slavery in a 
Christian republic preeminently demands direct action, aimed 
at its speedy extermination. It may long resist such action, 
but no other is pertinent to its nature. When, after the 
Revival of 1830-33, the attention of the people of God, 
especially of the young converts, was turned to this subject, 
they proclaimed the truth — Chattel Slavery is a sin, and im- 
mediate emancipation is the duty of the slaveholder. With this 
battle cry the institution was attacked by a host of witnessing 
warriors clad in the armor of God. That onset had undoubt- 
edly a divine origin, and the principle that animated it was a 



PEAYEE FOE THE OPPEESSED. 7 

true one, that slavery was to be swept away in righteousness. 
And had the entire weight of Christian power sustained the 
assault, and had the united energies of the saints in prayer 
been secured, the quarter of a century that has passed would 
probably have witnessed the downfall of the " peculiar insti- 
tution." But many leading minds in the churches thought 
it best to let slavery alone, and to leave it to the slow but 
sure influences of Christianity, by which it would be eventually 
extinguished. Twenty-five years have demonstrated that this 
grievous system of oppression is not undermined by the gos- 
pel, nor weakened by revivals. It has made most rapid 
strides, and is now far more defiant of religious powers than 
ever before. Shall not the teachings of the past suffice to 
prove that in dealing with slavery nothing is to be gained 
by indirection 1 Is it not time now, after the late gracious 
revival, to renew and reassert the declaration — Slavery is 
sinful, and must be abolished ? Let this voice be raised ; let 
it be echoed by all the churches ; and let the saints carry to 
the throne of grace, and urge with faith and boldness this 
plea, — "Great God ! abolish slavery." This prayer will be 
acceptable, and will prevail, if God, as we are sure he does, 
hates this stupendous sin. 

2. The duty and importance of praying for the abolition 
of slavery appears from this — that if prayer does not prevail 
against slavery, slavery will disarm prayer of its prevailing 
power, and reduce it to an empty form. 

It is an accredited maxim that " praying will make us 
leave off sinning, and sinning will make us leave off praying." 
The reason is obvious, and the application is plain. If in- 
dulging sin in the heart is inconsistent with cherishing there 
the spirit of prayer, the allowing of any prevalent sin in so- 
ciety, on the ground that it is beyond the power of prayer, 
is equally inconsistent. For this is to admit that its removal 
is impossible with God. The alternative is forced upon 
us, — either slavery must be overcome by prayer, or prayer 



8 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

be foiled by slavery. These two powers now stand opposed 
to each other. 

This is providential, and fraught with vital consequences ; 
as when Goliah and David met. Slavery is to test the strength 
of prayer, the faith of Christians. Which shall prevail ? Is 
the Slave Power too strong for prayer, or have the saints such 
faith and argument touching this thing, that they may ask 
what they will, and it shall be done ? It is a first principle 
of evangelical faith, that, "all things are possible to them 
that believe." If this principle is yielded, the foundations 
of prayer are removed. If any thing is impossible, nothing 
is possible ; faith that fears is dead, and prayer that quails is 
powerless. If the servants of the Lord flee before the for- 
midable front of chattelism, instead of compassing it with 
mighty prayer, and dragging it before the Lord to be slain, 
they will betray a fearfulness which must preclude all accept- 
able prayer. The great God loveth strong intercessors, strong 
and bold, who "wrestle not against flesh and blood," — weak 
foes; but " against principalities, against powers, against the 
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- 
ness in high places , " — " praying always with all prayer in 
the Spirit." The only aristocracy in Christ's kingdom is 
composed of the princes who have power with God and with 
man, and all who will believe may wear the title of this 
order, " Israel." But they must believe only, " lifting up 
holy hands without wrath or doubting." They must believe 
only, not mixing fear with faith, nor trying with trusting ; 
that trying which first scans the magnitude of a sin, estimates 
its power, and counts the cost of assailing it. The faith that 
prevails in prayer has its sphere above the calculations of dif- 
ficulty and danger, where sense fails, and strength staggers. 
It is just as easy for believing prayer to take hold of great 
things as of small. The little English girl, languishing in 
her mortal sickness, when she was told that Bonaparte was 
preparing to invade her country, could grasp that national 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 9 

peril in her hourly prayer ; and who will say that the threat- 
ened invasion which might have changed the fate of Great 
Britain was not averted in answer to that dying child's inter- 
cessions ? 

Side by side in the Lord's Prayer stand the petitions,"Thy 
kingdom come ; Thy will be done on earth as it is done in 
heaven ; " and, "Give us this day our daily bread." No topics 
could be more dissimilar in magnitude, yet God hath joined 
them together, and the believer passes easily from the greater 
to the less. But let the petitioner put these asunder, and 
pray for bread alone, as deeming the other too great a favor to 
ask for, and his prayer will not prevail. God is honored by 
that fearless, resolute faith which says, " Who art thou, O 
great mountain ? Before the Zerubbabel of prayer thou 
shalt become a plain ! " This great mountain of slavery is 
the providential provocative in our day of the prayer of faith 
which removes mountains. The aspects of it which most 
dishearten man do most arouse against it the spirit of prayer. 
" Is any thing too hard for God ? " Is slavery too great for 
the Almighty ? We must either pray against this national 
sin, or limit the Holy One to minor evils. We dare not do 
the latter, we should fear to pray at all. To every interces- 
sor coming to the mercy seat, the gracious King says, "What 
is thy request? " And if, despite the pressure of the times, 
no mention is made of the crying wrong of oppression, he is 
grieved, and turns away. It is as if queen Esther, going 
into the presence of the king, with the fate of her doomed 
people claiming her entreaties, had feared to ask so great a 
favor as that their doom might be averted, and had only 
craved for herself a new chariot, or a larger retinue of ser- 
vants. 

In this view of the subject, it is painful to reflect that the 
theme of supplication which for twice ten years God has been 
urging upon his people has been so strenuously excluded from 
the prayer meeting, the monthly concert, and the sanctuary. 



10 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

Who can say how provoking this has been to the Hearer of 
prayer, and how often it may have rendered the petitions of 
his saints an abomination unto him ? Had not the Holy 
Spirit, with more than human forbearance, borne with the 
manners of the people, and laid the unwelcome burden on 
their hearts, and inwrought fervent desires, impelling many 
to pray earnestly for the oppressed, there might by this time 
have been little more than the form of prayer in the American 
Zion. Yes, prayer for the oppressed has done much to 
preserve the vitality of prayer in the churches ! This has 
been its happy reflex influence, although it has had to strug- 
gle against much gainsaying of misguided brethren. When 
it shall have prevailed against slavery, and wrought out the 
deliverance of them that are in bonds, then will be seen, as 
now is not, the irresistible power of prayer. We rejoice in 
the assurance that prayer will overcome slavery. We have 
no fear of the alternative. We are glad to have this decisive 
test applied. Let it be seen in this crisis what the prayer of 
faith can endure, and what it can do. It has other trials to 
overcome, other triumphs to win. 

3. The importance of prayer for the abolition of slavery 
in this country, is shown from the ineiheacy of other means 
to effect it. 

Every other mode of opposition has been vigorously em- 
ployed. The first minds of Christendom have written and 
spoken against this monster iniquity. Its champions have 
been forced to acknowledge, " The literature of the world 
is against us." But oppression laughs at literature, — it de- 
fies the rostrum and the press. The moral influence of the 
nation has borne against it with a pressure seemingly irresist- 
ible ; State and national anti-slavery societies with the motto, 
" agitate, agitate, agitate ; " mass meetings hurling the thun- 
ders of popular indignation ; Christian conventions uttering 
the reprobations of religion ; notes of warning from dying 
patriots ; appeals to justice and humanity from honored phil- 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 11 

anthropists ; remonstrances from the purest divines ; the en- 
treating voice of Christian women ; — all these moral forces 
have borne against slavery. But it mocks at moral suasion. 
Political measures have been tried, — tried in good faith and 
with the utmost energy. But the Slave Power, versed in the 
intrigues of politics, has gained victory after victory, and 
grown stronger by this species of opposition. Providential 
events have signally fought against slavery. The successive 
acts of European powers have swept chattel slavery from 
their colonies. Cuba and Brazil, with our own country, alone 
retain it. Repeated emancipations by individual slaveholders 
at the South have kept alive the anti-slavery feeling. The 
violent measures which the slave power has employed to for- 
tify and extend its dominions have exasperated and alarmed 
the people of the North. For a quarter of a century this 
movement of the people, of the churches, of political machin- 
ery, sustained by favoring providences, has been in progress ; 
yet slavery in America is mightier to-day than it was at the 
beginning of the movement. 

Do not these facts show the duty and importance of prayer ? 
We are prone to try everything else before we resort to 
wrestling prayer. We have tried everything else. We have 
prayed, indeed ; but chiefly to crave God's blessing on our 
other measures. This will not suffice. In such a desperate 
case, prayer must take hold on the arm of the Lord, and move 
it to strike the decisive blow. We must be convinced that only 
the Lord can break every yoke, and bid the oppressed go 
free ; and we must realize that he will be inquired of to do 
this thing. Not discarding other means, we must give the 
preeminence to this. We must pray and faint not. Each 
believer must alone intercede for the oppressed. Bands of 
implorers must join in heart as touching this thing, and with 
fall agreement and faith beseech God to abolish slavery. 
Intent on putting to the proof this last remedy, let the Chris- 
tians of America establish concerts throughout the land, for 



12 PEAYEE FOE THE OPPEESSED. 

closet and for social prayer. Let prayer be accompanied with 
occasional fasting, in token of humiliation, for the sin of op- 
pression. This d§mon can bo cast out, but not without 
prayer and fasting. Christ is able to rebuke the evil spirit, 
and to bid it come out of the nation. His disciples have been 
trying to exorcise it, and have failed. Let them take the 
case to him, and see if he will not work a deliverance. When 
he takes it in hand, and speaks the word, there may indeed 
be a deadly struggle, and the fell spirit, ere he departs, may 
rend the nation and fling it on the verge of dissolution ; but 
he who is strong to deliver is also mighty to save. We need 
not fear the issue. Do not some really dread abolition more 
than slavery ? The remedy is worse than the disease, they 
think. But should Christians distrust the cure which their 
Redeemer would effect? Here, perhaps, faith is most tried, 
— to commit this work of abolishing slavery to the Lord, and 
to have him cut short the work in righteousness. It may be 
we have been secretly determined to keep off the dreaded 
event which we are sure must come at last. They who have 
been foremost as abolitionists and immediate emancipationists 
may do well to examine themselves on this very point ; per- 
adventure they are not, after all, prepared to see slavery 
abolished at once ! Where stand the people of God generally 
touching this issue ? Are they ready to trust the case in his 
hands? Are they prepared to Have every yoke broken, and 
to see the oppressed set free ? Can they be agreed to pray 
for this unconditionally, dictating no terms ? 

4. That prayer for this object should be made without longer 
delay, is proved by the extreme dangers of the continuance 
of slavery, and of the strife it occasions. 

Do we apprehend the evils of sudden abolition ? We had 
better consider the perils of prolonging chattel slavery in this 
land of liberty. " Oppression maketh the wise man mad." 
Only the brutish man will long endure brutal treatment him- 
self, or tolerate its infliction upon another. If despotism 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 13 

breeds disafTections, slavery begets insurrections, as light en- 
ters the house of bondage. And the light is advancing — 
fearfully. Appalling dangers are just ahead. The mixed 
race is rapidly increasing. The hottest blood of the South 
flows in the veins of slaves, who are often scarcely distinguish- 
able, in complexion from their oppressors. Abolition deferred 
may come too late. Provocations, slight compared with those 
of slavery, drove our fathers to rebellion. The worst pas- 
sions are inflamed by the atrocities of the chattel system. 
The revolting scenes of the inter-State slave trade, the abom- 
inations of slave breeding, the barbarities of the cotton 
field and rice swamps, the ferocities of the slave hunt with 
blood-hounds in the South, and with more savage men in 
the free States, the imprisonments and lynchings of North- 
ern men found in the slave States and suspected of hold- 
ing abolition sentiments, the many collisions between slavery 
and freedom, which have in some instances proceeded to 
bloodshed and death, have caused much irritation and deep 
indignation throughout the country. Freemen are exasper- 
ated ; good people are aroused ; the moral sense of the nation 
is shocked and tried to the utmost. The sentiments of patriot- 
ism, devotion to the Union, and respect for federal law, are 
lowered in the public mind. Faith in free institutions, and 
hope of their perpetuity are seriously shaken. Sectional 
animosities are rife. The republic is no longer a unit, for 
the hearts of the people are sundered. Issues the most rad- 
ical divide us : freedom and slavery ! There is determination 
on either side, and strong feeling. There can be no reconcil- 
iation and no respite in this fraternal strife. Nothing can end 
it but the removal of slavery. Only this can avert the evils 
that now threaten the republic. Emancipation or ruin is the 
alternative which the tide of events is forcing on us. It is 
now a time of trial, a crisis. The elements are fraught with 
trouble. Peacemakers are abroad, but agitators are stronger 



14 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

than they. This is no time to cry peace. Men behold the 
oppressions that are done under the sun, done under " the 
stars and stripes," and they are stirred. There is no leisure 
for speculation and conjecture. Let no time be wasted in 
idle fears, or in useless efforts at pacification. The conflict 
must continue ; God wills it ! Let his people commit the 
cause to him. Let them betake themselves to prayer. 

And what shall be the burden of their supplications? 
Shall they pray for peace, for a calming of the waters, fcr a 
putting out of the fires of freedom which burn against oppres- 
sion ? No, no ! Let them pray for the abolition of slavery. 
Let them not mock God by calling upon him to stay the work 
which his providences have so manifestly been pushing for- 
ward. Where are the intercessors who, in God's light, see 
light on this subject, who are prepared to enter into the divine 
plans, and who will please the Lord by asking him boldly, in 
faith, to put an end to slavery ? Where are the wise and 
discerning men, in whom is the Spirit of the Lord, who clearly 
see that this is the only salvation to all the interests of Amer- 
ican liberty? Let them speak out, and summon the saints to 
repair without delay to the throne of grace, in this time 
of need. 

By the several considerations foregoing we would urge the 
duty and importance of praying for the abolition of slavery 
in America. We would lay this solemn duty on the hearts 
of Christians; we would earnestly entreat them to stir them- 
selves to take hold on God for this great blessing to the na- 
tion and the world. We would humbly say, — Brethren, 
quench not the Spirit, which may now be moving you to pray, 
and may be waiting to work in your hearts the fervent and 
effectual prayer which, poured forth by the help of his inter- 
cessions and unutterable groanings, will avail much. Make 
full proof, beloved, of the power of prayer. A better test 
there could not be. Let it be seen that prayer can overcome 
slavery. Make it manifest that what the literature, the moral 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 15 

suasion, and the political action of one generation has not 
done, the prayers of God's people can do. Important inter- 
ests await this result — the nation rescued from ruin, Chris- 
tianity saved from apostasy. Emancipation gained by prayer 
■will avert emancipation wrought by violence. 

Slavery done away in righteousness, oppression in its other 
forms will be meliorated and will gradually disappear. The 
apprentice, the clerk, the sailor, the soldier, the pupil, the 
child, the laborer, the hired girl, the wife, will be more secure 
from the abuses of power, when the spirit of oppression, 
driven from its stronghold, is shorn of its strength. The 
abolition of slavery in this country will go far to drive the 
spirit of oppression out of Christendom, and to liberate the 
nations of Europe. 

Such results, rationally to be anticipated, should certainly 
impel Christians to pray. The purity, the peace, and the 
prosperity of Zion are so implicated, that to pray for the abo- 
lition of slavery is to pray for these. The power of revivals, 
the success of home and foreign missions, the operations of 
tract and Bible societies would be increased immeasurably by 
the overthrow of slavery, and by the augmented strength this 
victory would practically give to prayer. The available en- 
ergies of the American Zion would be multiplied many fold. 
The Bible would be vindicated, Christianity would have the 
trophies of the triumph, and God would gain great glory. 

Oh ! then, who among the saints will restrain prayer ? — 
"Who will come not up to the help of the Lord against the 
mighty ? Who will incur the bitter curse of Meroz ? Bather, 
who will not bear some part in this faith-struggle at the throne 
of grace ? Who will not share in the rewards which God 
will bestow on his people, when he comes to avenge them 
speedily by the overthrow of slavery ? What praying circle, 
what pulpit, what concert or closet, will be found wanting in 
this crisis ? < 



16 PEAYEE FOR THE OPPEESSED. 

Prayer for the abolition of slavery involves "prayer for the 
oppressed. Ungodly men may oppose slavery, and yet have 
little sympathy for the enslaved ; but the Christian can not 
bear the sin of slavery to the throne of God without bearing 
thither the wrongs and woes of the oppressed. Moralists may 
condemn chattelism in the abstract ; but they who are moved 
to pray by the Holy Ghost will " remember them that are in 
bonds as bound with them." 

" Who are the oppressed! " we asked at the outset, and 
answered, The enslaved. Again we ask, Who are the oppressed? 
Who are these victims of slavery ? -Who are they that we 
should pray for them ? We answer : 

They are men. They belong to the human family. They 
are of one blood with ourselves. They have the same rights 
with us, the same interests, the same desires, the same wants, 
the same love of liberty, the same sense of right and wrong, 
the same deathless spirits. The negro in his chains appeal- 
ingly interrogates us, — " Am I not a man and a brother? " 
What can the Christian do but own the relationship? Is ho 
indeed a man — a brother ? Then does not to him the golden 
rule apply — " Do unto others as ye would they should do 
unto you?" Can we exclude them from our prayers? 

They are innocent men. By no hideous crime against 
humanity haye they forfeited their place in the brotherhood. 
For no violation of law have they been consigned to bondage. 
Against them, rather, has all law been violated, and every dic- 
tate of humanity outraged. Guilty only of a colored skin, 
and of inevitable ignorance, they have been doomed to abject 
servitude. From birth they have been made property. In 
their infancy they knew no mother, but merely a nurse ; in 
their childhood they had no home ; in their maturity they 
have no companions, and no children, but merely offspring, 
like the brutes. Yet, they are innocent men. Sinners indeed 
they are before a holy God, as are all mankind ; but they are 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 17 

innocent of crime. They are oppressed without cause. What 
should hinder the prayers of the righteous in their behalf? 

Many of them are the children of God, by regeneration. 
These are our brethren in the Lord, one with us in Christian 
bonds, " fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household 
of God. They cry day and night unto God, and their cry 
enters into his ear. Our blessed Saviour would have us pray 
for and sympathize with these his little ones, as we love him. 
He is very pitiful towards them, and very jealous toward 
those who slight them. Realize that they are their Lord's, 
that they are not their own, that they can not be the property 
of their owners, that they are bought with a price. Regard 
the enslaved saints as the Lord's freemen ; that their Master 
hath need of them ; that they are forbidden to call any man 
master, on earth, for one is their Master, even Christ. Can 
it be the will of Jesus that his own redeemed saints should 
be held and treated as beasts ? Will he not be grieved if his 
followers who are free, pray not for the freedom of these their 
brethren in bonds ? When Peter was put in prison in Jeru- 
salem, " prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto 
God for him," and it wrought his deliverance. Let prayer 
be now made without ceasing by the church, for the liberation 
of all enslaved saints, and enlargement shall surely come. 
The living God waits to be importuned by the church for its 
own members. He waits to hear the cry of distress from 
Zion, suffering with her suffering children. 

The unconverted slaves are hopeful subjects of renewing 
grace compared with the same number of any class of men. 
No persons on earth are more susceptible to gospel influences 
than the negroes. What the missionary has labored almost 
in vain to effect among the Indians, among the Jews, among 
the Catholic immigrants in this country, would, we are con. 
fident, be done with large success among the slaves of the 
South, if they were emancipated. Strike off the shackles, 
and this Ethiopia would stretch forth her hands unto God. 



18 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

The oppressed are a great multitude. Three millions oj 
souls are crushed and brutalized by slavery. Three millions 
of souls are robbed of every human right, and subjected to 
every abuse and cruelty that the caprice, lust, or cupidity of 
the slaveholder may dictate. The master is wholly irrespon- 
sible. The slave plantation is a petty, absolute despotism. 
From thousands of fields the blood of the oppressed crieth to 
God for vengeance. Millions of groaning, sighing wretches 
are appealing to Heaven for mercy. With these groans of the 
enslaved will mingle the prayers of the righteous in their 
behalf; and no doubt the Lord will hear. 

The oppressed are to be regarded as having wants while in 
their bondage which God only can supply ; but it must be 
borne in mind that their great want is freedom. Let this be 
sought instantly, importunately. Beware of praying for them 
as slaves, as if their condition were unchangeable ; this were 
a grievous insult to God and to humanity. Pray for the 
oppressed — that they may go free. Pray for the oppressors 
— that they may break every yoke. Pray for the missionary 
and the colporter — that they "may open their mouths bold- 
ly, to make known the mystery of the gospel; that therein 
they may speak boldly, as they ought to speak." We may 
be sure that God will not suffer the oppressors long to stand 
between his salvation and the souls of the oppressed. We 
may plant our feet on this firm assurance when we pray, — 
"The Lord will open a highway for his word." If he sends 
his messengers to the south to preach salvation, he will stand 
by them and will give their word success, though their blood 
flow to seal their ministry. 

Let it not be, brethren, that our prayer for the oppressed 
shall be less fervent because they are not of our own color ; 
lest it should appear that we have " the faith of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." 
Were this so, how could the Spirit of prayer dwell at all in 
our hearts ? It were a crying wrong if prejudice should 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 19 

restrain prayer for the enslaved. He who has no pity for the 
bleeding bondman because he is an African, is not like the 
good Samaritan, is not like Christ, who died for all men, is 
not like God, with whom is no respect of persons. 

And let not our prayers be hindered by fears of what may 
come after emancipation. The faith that is adequate to 
prayer is also able to commit the results of God's action to his 
management. It is to be feared that some have become dis- 
couraged by the growth and ascendency of the slave power, 
and have no faith that prayer for the oppressed will avail. 
Their trust is in political action, or in the judgments of a 
just God, and the vengeance of the oppressed. Be not, 
beloved, drawn into this attitude of unbelief and "fearful 
looking for of judgment and fiery indignation." " Be not 
afraid; only believe." 

"What shall be the bearing of the late revival upon slavery? 
It is a signal fact that each great awakening in this country, 
including that of 1797, has been marked by the arousing 
of God's people to the sin of oppression. 

We have already spoken of the influence of the outpouring 
of God's Spirit in 1830-33, as giving rise to the great mod- 
ern movement in opposition to slavery. Simultaneously with 
this, a strong dislike of it on moral grounds was seizing many 
minds at the South. Various demonstrations of this were 
made by religious bodies ; and in some of the slave States 
emancipation was seriously meditated and openly proposed. 
The writer of this tract, a native of the South and a member 
of a slaveholding family, religiously trained to regard slavery 
as scriptural, and expecting to be, after the manner of his 
father, a church member and a slaveholder for life, was hope- 
fully numbered among the subjects of the revival of 1830. 
He consecrated himself to the work of the ministry. The 
spirit of prayer was given him, with yearnings to be holy and 
to be useful. His eyes were then opened to the moral con- 
dition of the slaves. He saw those of his own household, 



20 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

though his father was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church, 
living without God, without religious instruction, without 
moral restraint; he saw the young slaves, the fruit of pro- 
miscuous concubinage, the playmates of his childhood, and 
scarcely of a darker hue, (though happily claiming no blood 
relationship, as those of some Southern families do,) growing 
up in ignorance and vice. Deeply moved, he cried unto the 
Lord that he would save their souls. He daily prayed for 
those miserable creatures ; he nightly bathed his pillow with 
tears of pity and distress. But he found no relief; he saw 
no ray of hope. He dreamed not then that slavery itself was 
wrong, and that its abolition was the only remedy for the ills 
of the oppressed. He knew not that many others were moved 
as he was, and that it was the Lord who was thus stirring the 
first impulses of a mighty movement for the redemption of the 
enslaved. Just then, a tract, or pamphlet, sent by some un- 
known hand from the East, was taken from the post-office. It 
was on the safety of immediate emancipation. The very sub- 
ject riveted attention by its novelty and boldness. The tract 
was read in secret, and read again, and soberly pondered. 
Light broke in ; new thoughts, new feelings, new hopes were 
inspired. In less than one year, (1833,) the writer was a 
member of Lane Theological Seminary, and an avowed con- 
vert to the new doctrine. 

These were some of the fruits of the revival a quarter of a 
century ago. They have lasted till now. Opposition to 
chattel oppression in this country is in great measure due to 
that gracious work, and to the spirit of prayer which has sus- 
tained and sanctified it. Surely we can not doubt that God 
is in this movement. Another mighty revival has been en- 
joyed by our American Zion — the most powerful, perhaps, of 
the series. It has been specially characterized by the spirit 
of prayer, which has been poured out in large measure, and 
has wrought astonishing results. 

It is now a momentous question: To what ends shall this 



PEAYEE FOE THE OPPEESSED. 21 

renovated instrumentality of prayer, in the hands of a revived 
church, and of a multitude of young converts, who owe their 
hopes to it, be applied ? Against what forms of sin and evil 
shall this weapon be wielded ? What embodiment of wrong 
most invites this species of attack, by its opposition to every- 
thing vital in godliness? Is it not American slavery? We 
assuredly gather that it is God's will there should be a special 
and combined effort in prayer, to pull down this stronghold 
of iniquity. We have confidence that the Holy Ghost, who 
has given the saints a fresh baptism of prayer, will incline 
them to unite their supplications against this abomination. 

Christian reader ! Will you not bear this burden to your 
closet ? Will you not make the bondman's wrongs your own? 
Christian parents ! Will you not mingle with your thanks- 
givings that your children were born free, importunate sup- 
plications that the curse of slavery may be removed from 
every family in the land? Young converts! Ye who, in 
answer to prayer, have been liberated from the bonds of sin, 
will you not plead with God to deliver the oppressed, and to 
abolish slavery? Ministers of Christ! Will you not call upon 
the Lord, " praying with all prayer and supplication in the 
spirit," and leading the sacramental host to the throne of 
grace? Are there Christian households, and Christian sanc- 
tuaries in this land, where the oppressed have not been habit- 
ually remembered in prayer? Are there disciples who have 
not sympathized with the sighing bondmen? Are there 
"women professing godliness" who have been deaf to the 
wail of slave mothers sundered from their babes? Let these 
things be no longer, lest the cry of the down-trodden millions 
call down swift retributions. May the spirit of grace and 
of supplications be poured out upon Zion, until liberty shall 
be proclaimed throughout all this land, unto all the inhabitants 
thereof. So God grant for his Son's sake ! 



22 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 



FROM A SERMON BY REV. E. ST. KIRK, D. D. 

In addition to the reasons urging to prayer for the extinction 
of slavery growing out of the character of the system, and the 
condition of the oppressed, there are other reasons derived from 
its influence upon the slave owners. 

Of these there are three classes: the unwilling master — the 
■willing, but kind master — and the oppressor. 

1. I know of no condition so full of trials as that of the slave- 
owner who abhors the relation, but does not see that he can prop- 
erly terminate it. That there are many such can not be doubted. 
But what a life must a godly man lead who has come to compre- 
hend its enormous wickedness ! "What must be his apprehensions 
of the wrath of God upon his people, his country ! If a man of 
skeptical views, like Jefferson, could tremble for his country in 
remembering that heaven is just, what must he feel who fully 
believes that God is ruler among the nations, and that he hates 
oppression ! How painful must be his unavailing sympathy for 
the poor oppressed beings whom he sees around him ! How must 
his heart be burdened as he observes the demoralizing influences 
of slavery on both races ; how often must his love of country be 
pained with that just contempt which slaveholding in America 
excites in every civilized nation under heaven ; how painful 
must it be to see no relief in any quarter, but, on the contrary, 
everything indicating that the system is to be incorporated 
into the whole civil and social system of the nation ! And 
to crown all, while many intelligent persons at the South would 
gladly abandon slavery, no man has the courage to utter his 
sentiments. 

This class of slave-owners demands our deepest and most 
compassionate sympathy. 

2. There is another class who have been taught from infancy 
by their parents, teachers, and pastors, that slavery is a divine 
institution ; they see no wrong in it, and consider all the evils as 
incidental, and not as legitimate consequences of the system. 
They are the most powerful upholders of it, because they believe 
it to be right, and are conscious of no other than kind senti- 
ments towards their slaves. To such men and their sentiments 
the oppressor triumphantly appeals as an evidence that slave- 



PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 23 

holding is not injurious to character, nor repulsive to the feelings 
of good men. 

3. Then there is the oppressor — the man in whom slave- 
holding is a sin per se. fie holds his brother as property. He 
denies to man, for selfish ends, the rights and prerogatives of 
manhood. He denies that the possession of life, liberty and 
happiness, or the unobstructed pursuit of them, is the right of 
every man unconvicted of crime. — But not to rest in general 
statements, let us place side by side some facts, and some pas- 
sages of the word of God. 

The facts are that slavery robs a man of his humanity. He 
is made a thing, a chattel, merchandise. The African has no 
right on earth but to do the will, and promote the comfort of the 
Caucasian. He can not choose his residence, his employer, his 
work. He can not receive wages or the fruits of his industry. 
He can not defend his wife against insult. He can not protect his 
children from violence. He can not live with his family if it 
does not suit the interests of another man. He can not educate- 
his children. He can not choose an employment for them. He 
can not hope for anything but slavery. He can not worship God 
when he pleases. He can not testify in a court of justice. — 
Now what does God think of all this ? "I hate oppression," is 
his reply. " Remove not the landmarks of the widow," he 
says, "their cry will come before him; their Redeemer is mighty." 
u Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and howl; the hire of the labor- 
ers who have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back 
by fraud, crieth ; and the cries of them which have reaped are 
entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Not a day, not 
an hour probably passes in which some oppressed petitioner is 
not filing his petition in the chancery of heaven against the slave- 
owners of our land. 

We have probably had more indignation than sympathy for 
these men. And yet they are to be pitied. Probably none of 
us have been as deeply indignant at the sins of oppressors as 
Moses was at the idolatry of his people at the very base of Sinai. 
And yet when the Lord threatened to cut off Israel and raise 
up the promised nation from him, he prayed thus for them : 
" Forgive their sin ; — and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of 
thy book which thou hast written ! " 



24 PRAYER FOR THE OPPRESSED. 

We can not then have exhausted the duty of prayer for the 
overthrow of oppression till our sympathies and intercessions 
have embraced the slave-owners as well as the slaves. 

And there are peculiar encouragements for seeking the aboli- 
tion of slavery by prayer. 

1. God's special readiness to hear prayer when his people 
are in straits. Notice the sketches of personal and national his- 
tory in the Bibls. How many of them are recorded in order to 
show how ready God is to deliver his people when in their per- 
plexities they cry unto him. Jacob, Moses, David, Hezekiah, 
Mordecai, Nehemiah, the church in Jerusalem when Peter was 
in prison. " Now these things were for our ensamples." 

2. The time of terminating an infliction has come when it 
has produced an humble and hearty return to God. 

3. The mode of deliverance thus secured will be the best. 
An end might be put to slavery by a civil war ; but the remedy 
would be unspeakably worse than the disease. But suppose the 
church of God to take up this matter with an humble, united 
heart ; and before the world and God become, like Moses, an in- 
tercessor, and ready to employ other means subsequently and 
subordinately, we can not doubt that slavery would come to an 
end ; and then observe with what blessed results : 

What glory to God ! He will be acknowledged as holy, as 
gracious, as powerful, as a hearer of prayer. 

What benefits to the slave ! Liberty, elevation, knowledge, 
all social and civil blessings. 

What relief to the master ! — from crime, from the conscious- 
ness of wrong-doing, from fear, from a bondage of dependence, 
unthriftiness, and numberless vexations. 

What blessings to the country ! Asperities all softened. North, 
South, East and West united in one brotherhood ; the nation 
honored in the approbation of the world ; Freedom a grand 
reality for all. 

What advantage to the cause of Christ ! Christians hence- 
forth one ; wounds healed; the way of usefulness unobstructed ; 
the church hastening with united strength, and with the blessing 
of God, to the spiritual conquest of the world ! 



SLAVERY UNCHRISTIAN. 3 

Let slavery be removed from the church, and let the 
voice of the church, with one accord, be lifted up in favor 
of freedom ; let the church be wholly detached from the 
institution, and let there be adopted by all its ministers 
and members an interpretation of the Bible — as I believe 
there may be, and ought to be — that shall be in accord- 
ance with the deep-seated principles of our nature in favor 
of freedom, and with our own aspirations for liberty, and 
with the sentiments of the world in its onward progress in 
regard to human rights, and not only would a very material 
objection against the Bible be taken away, — and one 
which would be fatal if it were well founded, — but the 
establishment of a very strong argument in favor of the 
Bible, as a revelation from God, would be the direct result 
of such a position 

There is not vital energy enough ; there is not power 
of numbers and influence enough out of the church to 
sustain slavery. Let every religious denomination in the 
land detach itself from all connection with slavery, without 
saying a word against others ; let the time come when, 
in all the mighty denominations of Christians, it can be 
announced that the evil has ceased with them for ever ; and 
let the voice from each denomination be lifted up in kind, 
but firm and solemn testimony against the system — with 
no mealy words ; with no attempt at apology ; with no 
wish to blink it ; with no effort to throw the sacred shield 
of religion over so great an evil — and the work is done. 
There is no public sentiment in this land — there could be 
none created — that would resist the power of such testi- 
mony. There is no power out of the church that could 
sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it. 
Not a blow need be struck. Not an unkind word need 
be uttered. No man's motive need be impugned, no 
man's proper rights invaded. All that is needful is, for 
each Christian man, and for every Christian church, to 
stand up in the sacred majesty of such a solemn testimony, 
to free themselves from all connection with the evil, and 
utter a calm and deliberate voice to the world, and the 

WORK WILL BE DONE. * 

Rev. Albert Barnes. 



4 
IS HE NOT MAN? 

Is he not Man, though knowledge never shed 
Her quickening beams on his neglected head ? 
Is he not Man, though sweet religion's voice 
Ne'er made the mourner in his God rejoice ? 
Is he not Man, by sin and suffering tried ? 
Is he not Man for whom the Saviour died ? 
Belie the Negro's powers ! in headlong will, 
Christian, thy brother thou shalt prove him stilL 
Belie his virtues ! since his wrongs began, 
His follies and his crimes have stampt him Man. 

Montgomery's West Indies. 



WRONG OF SLAVERY. 

My ear is pained, 
My soul is sick, with every day's report 
Of wrong and outrage, with which earth is filled. 
There is no flesh in man's obdurate heart ; 
It does not feel for man ; the natural bond 
Of brotherhood is severed as the flax 
That falls asunder at the touch of fire. 
He finds his fellow guilty of a skin 
Not colored like his own ; and having power 
To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause, 
Dooms and devotes him as a lawful prey. 
I would not have a slave to till my ground, 
To carry me, to fan me while I sleep, 
And tremble when I wake, for all the wealth 
That sinews bought and sold, have ever earned. 
No ; dear as freedom is, and in my heart's 
Just estimation prized above all price, 
I had much rather be myself the slave, 
And wear the bonds, than fasten them on him. 

Cowpcr's Task. 

No. 42. 

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